Presentations - 2025

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  The Deterrent Impact of Capital Punishment; A statistical Analysis

  Haley Aleman

  Violent crime and our nation’s efforts to reduce homicide rates, such as capital punishment, have always been divisive issues in criminology and political science. In an effort to contribute to the discourse surrounding these multifaceted issues, this study and its preliminary findings aim to investigate whether the implementation of the death penalty has had a statistically significant impact in deterring homicide throughout the United States.

  This has involved an evaluation of quantitative data regarding capital punishment and homicide from 2010 to 2022 to gain an understanding of a possible relationship between capital punishment and homicide rates. We utilized various bivariate statistical techniques, including paired t-tests and independent samples t-tests, to assess the relationship between capital punishment and homicide rates.

  Preliminary analyses indicate that capital punishment may have some deterrent effect on homicide rates. Since the statistical significances found may be marginal, it would be beneficial to conduct further research with continued statistical testing and additional controls. Our findings only highlight how necessary it is to draw more conclusions regarding the effectiveness of capital punishment.

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  Water consumption & efficiency: Casa Maria Marianist Household

  Deborah Alonso, Veronica Geronimo, Arturo Arana, Adrian Roda Teran, and Roberto Abarca

  In the fall of 2021, St. Mary’s University became one of the first universities in Texas to commit to Pope Francis’ Laudato Si’ Action Platform (LSAP). With this seven-year commitment to the principles of Laudato Si’, the St. Mary’s community is now taking steps to become a more environmentally sustainable campus. An important part of this effort is to establish baseline conditions from which to measure progress in sustainability with respect to specific university systems. With extensive grounds, dozens of buildings, and thousands of students, staff, and faculty, however, the complexities of a college campus can make it difficult to gather this information and explore more sustainable options in a systematic way. For the Spring 2025 semester, students in the StMU Honors Program are working with the Marianists to evaluate environmental sustainability for the Casa Maria Community located on the St. Mary’s campus. This type of smaller, ‘proof-of-concept’ project provides a more controlled way to explore current practices, establish baseline conditions, and develop customized recommendations for a more sustainable Casa Maria Community. For this presentation, a group of five students focused on evaluating water usage for the community, including water used for cooking, hygiene, and irrigation. Baseline data were gathered through observation and by anonymous surveys of the community residents, asking questions about indoor and outdoor water use for purposes of both personal and for their living community. The goal based on our results of this focused project includes recommendations for changes in water use patterns to reduce consumption. From this project, the Casa Maria Community is only the beginning, with our findings we hope to contribute to conservation and offer a potential for application across the broader St. Mary’s campus.

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  The living Campus Landscaping with prupose at St. mary's University

  Karelen Bastida, Alyana Estes, Erick Jarquin, and Elijah Perez

  St. Mary’s University became one of the first universities in Texas to commit to Pope Francis’ Laudato Si’ Action Platform (LSAP). With this seven-year commitment to the Laudato Si’ principles, the St. Mary’s community is now pushing forward to find ways to become more environmentally sustainable. As part of this effort, StMU Honors Program students will document the baseline conditions and establish relationships with the Marianists to evaluate renewability for the Casa Maria Community. With respect to specific university systems. This process will serve as a cornerstone to contributing to a better and more sustainable community on campus. When it comes to the extensive grounds and the complexities of a college campus, students will ask and work with the Marianists living on campus in the Casa Maria community to work in a more controlled way and explore current practices, establish baseline conditions, and develop customized recommendations for a more sustainable environment.

  Throughout our project, we focused on targeting areas where current practices could be used for improvement. Improvement for the development and care of their landscape. Hitting areas such as utilizing water-efficient irrigation systems, incorporating mulch to retain moisture and suppress any weeds, and even reducing any pesticide use and opt for more natural pest control methods. We will obtain our data through observations and developing an anonymous survey used to evaluate current trends and practices. The results of this focused project include recommendations for changes in landscaping practices that can lead to a more sustainable Casa Maria Community, with a potential for application across the broader St. Mary’s campus.

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  Ethical Work Cultures & AI

  Andrew Brei

  With the help of moral theories, several case studies, and insights from the world of behavioral ethics, my project aims to provide engineering professionals with the means to deal properly with moral issues that commonly arise in their chosen fields.

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  The law of livelihoods: How legal frameworks shape migrants' financial journeys

  Annie Bright

  The financial lives of migrants reveal critical intersections between legal frameworks and socio-economic outcomes. Drawing on the findings of the Journeys Project, a qualitative study examining the financial health and trajectories of migrants in their countries of arrival, this article explores the role of laws and policies in shaping the financial health of migrants, addressing barriers such as documentation, legal status, and access to financial services. It proposes legal reforms and frameworks that foster environments where migrants can achieve financial stability and self-sufficiency, using firsthand accounts from the project’s financial biographies to highlight the human impact of these issues.

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  Benford's Law and the Impact of Director Blockholders

  Ying "Caroline" Chen

  This presentation was given by a faculty member on Benford's Law and it's effects on management.

  "Benford's Law is a mathematical law which relates to the leading digits of numbers in naturally occurring tables. The probability of the first digit equaling some number d is roughly equal to

  𝑃 𝑑 = 𝑙𝑜𝑔10 (1 + 1 𝑑)

  The probability of the second digit equaling some number d is roughly equal to

  𝑃 𝑑 = σ𝑥=1 9 𝑙𝑜𝑔10 (1 + 1 10𝑥+𝑑)

  Durtschi, Hillison, and Pacini (2004) – Analysis using Benford’s Law is primarily useful on sets composed of mathematical combinations of numbers." (Slide 3)

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  From faith to watts: Energy efficiency in Casa Maria

  Trinity Gomez, Marvin Masabo Nkaka, Jazmin Palacios, Olivia Riojas, and Chelsy Tinacba

  In the fall of 2021, St. Mary’s University became one of the first universities in Texas to commit to Pope Francis’ Laudato Si’ Action Platform (LSAP). With this seven-year commitment to the principles of Laudato Si’, the St. Mary’s community is now taking steps to become a more environmentally sustainable campus. An important part of this effort is to establish baseline conditions from which to measure progress in sustainability with respect to specific university systems. With extensive grounds, dozens of buildings, and thousands of students, staff, and faculty, however, the complexities of a college campus can make it difficult to gather this information and explore more sustainable options in a systematic way. For the Spring 2025 semester, students in the StMU Honors Program are working with the Marianists to evaluate environmental sustainability for the Casa Maria Community located on the St. Mary’s campus. This type of smaller, ‘proof-of-concept’ project provides a more controlled way to explore current practices, establish baseline conditions, and develop customized recommendations for a more sustainable Casa Maria Community. For this presentation, students focused on understanding energy consumption for the community through the use of electrical appliances, lighting, heating and cooling, and hot water. Baseline data were gathered through observation, anonymous surveys of the community residents, and through optional one on one interviews. The results of this focused project include recommendations for changes in energy habits that can lead to reduced energy usage and cost savings from a more sustainable Casa Maria Community, with a potential for application across the broader St. Mary’s campus.

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  Obsacle and Opportunitie s in Marine Mammal Care and Welfare : Insights From Trainer

  Heather Hill, Megan Davis, and Sabrina Brando

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  Characteristics of a Marianist Education

  Alyssa Homsy

  This presentation was given by a first-year student on an essay she wrote for her first-year seminar class on the characteristics of a Marianist Education.

  The Society of Mary, which founded our university, is a Catholic religious sect of brothers and priest founded by Blessed William Joseph Chaminade in 1817. It is an organization dedicated to education, social justice and forming communities of faith.

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  Navigating challenges and seizing opportunities: The transformative impact of AI on business education and teaching strategies

  Denada Ibrushi

  This article explores the transformative impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on business education and teaching strategies, focusing on the instructor’s evolving role as a coach, the use of AI as a student assistant, and the development of AI-related skills. While AI cannot fully replace human instructors—lacking the capacity for existential reflection, value transmission, and societal context—it has significant potential to enhance efficiency, enabling instructors to prioritize student creativity and critical thinking. The study highlights various AI applications, such as ClassPoint AI for interactive quizzes, GradeScope for automated grading, and PowerPoint Speaker Coach for presentation skills, as well as tools like Copilot, Perplexity AI, Quillbot, Canva, Tavily AI, Explain Paper, and Julius AI for data analysis, visualization, AI ethics, and communication skill development. Additionally, the paper emphasizes the importance of aligning AI integration with industry demands by maintaining collaboration with businesses, attending AI workshops and conferences, and organizing campus AI information sessions. These efforts ensure educators effectively incorporate AI to prepare students for a rapidly evolving business environment.

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  Particle-in-cell coupled with Monte-Carlo Collisions and external circuitry for low temperature plasma reactors

  Richard Lombardini

  Low-temperature plasma reactors used for chip fabrication involve complex physical processes that affect the quality of pattern transfer on the semiconductor substrate. Detailed investigations of the near-surface plasma environment require fully-kinetic approaches. We use a particle-in-cell/Monte Carlo collision (PIC/MCC) approach coupled with external circuitry to model realistic operating conditions capture the kinetic effects and measure ion energy and angle distribution functions. We build on the exascale-capable PIC/MCC code, WarpX, and leverage Python interfaces to couple external circuitry. In this talk, we will demonstrate this inexpensive, non-iterative coupled strategy using a two-dimensional Gaseous Electronics Conference reference cell.

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  Heteroleptic self-assembly of platinum metallocycles based on naphthalene-diimide and aromatic dicarboxylate

  Erendra Manandhar

  A core-substituted naphthalene-diimide, functionalized with pyridinyl phenyl and octyl groups, was synthesized via Suzuki coupling and self-assembled with Pt(II) and Pd(II) phosphane triflates. The resulting triangular metallocycle structures were characterized by various methods, showing solvent-dependent UV-Vis absorption and fluorescence, and self-assembled into nanostructures.

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  AI for learning: Lessons from the Classroom at St. Mary;s University

  Xavier Montecel

  To what extent should college teachers guard against student use of AI? To what extent should we endorse and regulate the use of AI to enhance student learning? How can this be done? In this presentation, I share the results of a semester-long experiment in the use of AI for learning with students at St. Mary’s. Participants were registered for two distinct sections of a course in theology. Students in the control section were instructed not to use AI without explicit permission. Students in the experimental section were trained in AI prompting, required to use AI to work toward their learning goals, and asked to report on their interactions with the machine. The results point to several key distinctions that ought to inform AI classroom policy, including product-oriented v. process-oriented use of AI and plagiarism v. self-replacement. Survey data also point to existing AI habits and priorities among students with significant pedagogical implications.

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  Enhancing customer experiences in airline code sharing: Understanding impact, expectations, and strategies for improvement

  Rosa Morales

  This research project aimed to explore the impact of airline code-sharing on customer satisfaction and identify potential strategies for improving these services. Code-sharing, where multiple airlines share the same flight, has become a common practice in the aviation industry, especially among major alliances like Star Alliance, OneWorld, and SkyTeam. However, the effectiveness of these arrangements in enhancing customer experiences remains a topic of interest. Our study involved surveying 169 participants to gather insights into their familiarity with code-sharing, satisfaction levels, and preferences for potential improvements.

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  Intimate partner violence in the Latino Community

  Emilee Pesina

  Presenter aims to explore the barriers Latina women face in accessing the support and resources needed to escape abuse. By examining cultural norms, immigration status, language barriers, and the influence of family and community dynamics, I hope to gain a deeper understanding of how domestic violence manifests in the Latino community. They attempt to identify effective interventions and policies that address the unique needs of these women. The intended broader goal is to raise awareness, encourage community-based solutions, and develop culturally sensitive approaches to empower Latina women to break the cycle of violence and remind them they are not alone—that help is available if they seek it.

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  Section 1983 municipal liabilty and the plaintiff's burden of proof for custom and policy

  Lauren Porfirio

  This piece explores the rules and standard of review for municipal liability outlined in Monell and then Brown by defining the purpose of those court decisions and outlining the custom and policy requirements. Then, this piece discusses three Fifth Circuit cases that outline the current approach the appellate body takes in analyzing Section 1983 municipal liability claims. Next, several cases from other circuit courts and their application of Section 1983 for municipal liability are analyzed. Then the Fifth Circuit Court application of Section 1983 is compared and contrasted to the application of the other circuit court cases. Finally, several questions left unanswered in case law will be examined, namely, what evidence is sufficient to prove custom. To conclude, potential solutions will be presented to address the plaintiff’s difficulties in meeting the evidentiary burden for Section 1983 under Monell.

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  Why libral feminist law fail women volunters in india and the United States: Between activism and complicity

  Amanda Stephens

  n this section from my book, Women Volunteers in India and the United States: Between Activism and Complicity, I examine the potential and limitations of liberal-feminist laws in India and the United States to achieve gender equality. Liberal feminism, a strand of feminist thought, argues that gender equality can be achieved by reforming existing legal and political systems. For instance, a liberal-feminist approach to eradicating workplace sexual harassment might involve passing laws like Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which allows employees to seek redress for harms caused by such practices.

  Drawing on data from legal texts, feminist writings, interviews, and ethnographic observations of feminist activists in northern India, I argue that while liberal feminism offers a pragmatic strategy by working within existing patriarchal structures, this reliance on patriarchal systems is also its greatest weakness. My analysis of liberal-feminist laws in two vastly different democracies reveals that they often fail to create gender-equitable conditions because they emerge from and operate within patriarchal, male-privileging social systems. Instead of dismantling systemic inequalities, these laws frequently reinforce existing hierarchies and predominantly benefit society’s most privileged groups.

  I propose an alternative feminist approach to addressing gender inequality—one that focuses on transforming the underlying sexist social structures rather than addressing isolated issues through piecemeal legal reforms. This broader approach could more effectively address interconnected issues like gender violence and pay inequality, moving toward comprehensive social change rather than lackluster legal solutions.

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  Present Bias, Payday Borrowing, and Financial Literacy

  Solomon Wang and Jeremy St. John

  This paper investigates the relationship between payday borrowing and an individual’s present bias, a cognitive inclination toward short-term gratification while ignoring long-term consequences. We use U.S. government stimulus cash during the COVID-19 pandemic as a quasi-natural experiment. The present biased individuals are defined as those who spent the cash to make purchases and not to save or invest, or those who did not pay off debt while having a debt problem. Our findings suggest that individuals with stronger present bias are more likely to borrow payday loans. And among the payday borrowers, the frequency of borrowing increases with the level of present bias. These effects are robust after financial literacy, financial distress, and demographic characteristics are controlled and after propensity score matching is applied. Moreover, we find that present bias decreases with the level of financial literacy, suggesting the importance of financial education for the correction of cognitive bias. Lastly, we find that present bias also determines the usage of other expensive financial services such as pawn loans, title loans, etc.

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  Acute Effects of High-Intensity Functional Training on Cognitive Function

  Kelvin Wu and Gary Guerra

  CrossFit, a high-intensity functional training program, has gained widespread popularity for its physical fitness benefits, but its acute effects on cognitive function are not well understood. This study investigated the immediate impact of a CrossFit workout on cognitive performance, compared to a resting condition. Twenty experienced CrossFit athletes participated in two conditions: (1) a 12-minutes high-intensity CrossFit session and (2) a resting session involving 12 minutes of seated magazine reading. Cognitive performance was assessed using a flanker task, measuring reaction time and response accuracy as indicators of cognitive processing and inhibitory control.

  Results revealed significantly better performance in the flanker task following the CrossFit workout compared to the resting condition. These findings suggest that high-intensity exercise acutely enhances cognitive performance, particularly in tasks requiring quick decision-making and attention.

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  Towards Sustainable Energy: Design and Preliminary Testing of Tidal Current Turbines

  Yareli A. Zelaya Pavon

  As the energy demand constantly increases and traditional energy resources decrease, incorporating sustainable alternatives has become necessary. In this context, this research attempts to provide a new solution for energy scarcity in regions that lack electricity, especially those located near large ocean areas. The objective of this project was to engineer and investigate an ideal prototype to transform power generation. Through detailed design and testing, this project seeks to reveal the potential of tidal energy, offering an alternative to communities struggling with energy distribution.

  The research focuses on utilizing custom-designed propellers, which are 3D printed and installed on an open flow channel that takes advantage of the water moved through it to move the propellers, converting kinetic energy into electrical energy.